Oscillating and rotating lawn sprinkler



28, 1967 s. w. THOMPSON 3, 1 A

OSCILLATING AND ROTATING LAWN SPRINKLER Filed Sept. 26, 1966 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. Seth h a/do Ham 05022 ATTORNEY S. W. THOMPSON Nov. 28, 1967 OSCILLATING AND ROTATING LAWN SPRINKLER Filed Sept. 26, 1966 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. Set/z Wafdo Thompson M ATTORNEY United States Patent Ofiice 3,355,1ld Patented Nov. 28, 1967 3,355,110 GSCILLATING AND ROTATING LAWN SPRINKLER Seth W. Thompson, 9 Gordon Road, Essex Fells, NJ. 07021 Filed Sept. 26, 1966, Ser. No. 581,912 Claims. (Cl. 239-242) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLQSURE A sprinkler pipe is journaled for oscillation in the housing of a water motor in communication with the Water outlet of the motor, an arm is rotatable loosely on said pipe and connected to the driving crank of the motor, and there is connector means including a part oscillatable with said pipe and movable thereon selectively into a fixed driving connection between said arm and said pipe to oscillate the pipe or into a fixed holding connection between an element of said housing and said pipe to anchor the latter against oscillation.

This application is a continuation-in-part of my copending application, Ser. No. 336,709, now Patent 3,275,- 242, and this invention relates in general to the lawn sprinklers of the type described in my Patent No. 3,168,- 249 and in my said pending application each of which discloses a lawn sprinkler having a water supply pipe which selectively may be oscillated or held stationary in any of a plurality of positions for directing water jets in any of a plurality of directions; and more particularly the invention is directed to such a sprinkler which also has a sprinkler head movable with the sprinkler supply pipe so as to selectively rotate or not rotate; and desirably the sprinkler head includes radial arms that have apertures which serve as water outlets both when the sprinkler is rotated and when the sprinkler is stationary, with the supply pipe either oscillating or held stationary in an adjusted position.

In one specific embodiment of the invention, I have provided a lawn sprinkler which has a water driven rotatable sprinkler head in combination with water driven means by which said head, when desired, may be oscillated about an axis perpendicular to the axis of rotation of the head; and more particularly the sprinkler head is mounted on a water supply pipe which is oscillatable by a water motor which derives its power from Water passing therethrough on its way to the sprinkler head. The water motor output shaft is connected to the supply pipe in such a way that the pipe selectively may be oscillated or may be held stationary in any of a plurality of positions, and with the sprinkler head either rotated or stationary.

The rotary sprinkler has a body from which hollow arms extend at ,an angle to the axis of rotation of said head to receive water through said body from said supply pipe, and the sprinkler head is so constructed and mounted that selectively it may be caused to rotate or not to rotate as desired.

One object of the invention is to provide ,a sprinkler of this character in which the head may be caused to rotate or to remain stationary selectively by simple rotation of the arms of the sprinkler head, and in which it is possible to control the speed of rotation of the head from zero to a maximum, and to locate the apertures so as to produce water sprays in any of a plurality of directions between the vertical and the horizontal. To this end each arm has apertures spaced apart along its length and adapted to discharge water, and in accordance with the invention the arms are adjustably rotatable about their axes whereby their apertures may be selectively disposed to direct the water in different directions with respect to the plane in which lies the axis of head rotation such that when the apertures are in one position there is no tendency for the head to turn while when the apertures are in another position the force of the water issuing from the apertures will cause the head to rotate.

In my patented sprinklers the supply pipe is connected by linkage to a crank on the water motor output shaft for oscillating the pipe, and to hold the pipe stationary, a link is disconnected from said crank and then conneected to an element on the frame of the sprinkler. It is another object of the present invention to provide novel, simpler and less expensive means for selectively permitting oscillation of the supply pipe or holding it stationary in an adjusted position.

Other objects, advantages and results of the invention will be brought out by the following description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a front elevation of an oscillating and rotating lawn sprinkler embodying the invention;

FIGURE 2 is a side elevation thereof on an enlarged scale with portions broken ,away;

FIGURE 3 is a combined front elevation and vertical sectional view approximately on the plane of the line 3-3 of FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 4 is a plan view taken approximately from the plane of the line 44 of FIGURE 3;

FIGURE 5 is an enlarged fragmentary vertical sectional view through the sprinkler head shown in FIG- URE 1 with portions broken away;

FIGURE 6 is a view similar to FIGURE 4 showing a modification of the invention;

FIGURE 7 is a transverse sectional view on the plane of the line 7-7 of FIGURE 6;

FIGURE 8 is a similar View on the plane of the line 8-8 of FIGURE 6, and

FIGURE 9 is a View similar to FIGURE 5 showing a modification of the sprinkler head.

Specifically describing the illustrated embodiment of the invention illustrated in FIGURES 1 through 5, the reference character A designates a frame which includes a housing that is mounted in known manner on runners B that support the housing on the ground or other supporting surface.

Within the housing is journalled for oscillation a sprinkler supply pipe C that is shown as comprising two sections, namely, a straight tubular horizontal section 1 that projects from one side of the housing and has connected thereto a vertical section 2 at the upper end of which is a sprinkler head D. While the pipe section 1 may be journalled in the housing in different ways, I have shown the housing as formed of two complemental cup shaped sections 3 and 4 that are secured together at their edges by bolts 5 with a packing ring St: between them. The section 3 has a hole 6 therethrough at one end of which is a shoulder 7 against which abuts one end of a cylindrical enlargement S on the pipe section 1 with an O-ring or other suitable packing 9 between them. The section 4 has a boss 10 having a recess in which is journalled the inner end of the shaft 1 with a bearing bushing 12, the end of the boss 10 abutting the end of the enlargement 8 opposite the shoulder 7 whereby the pipe is held against longitudinal movement, but is free to oscillate. Between the packing ring 9 and the boss 10 a portion of the pipe section 1 is cut away as indicated at 13 to provide an inlet for water from the impeller 14 of a water motor. Water is supplied to the impeller through an inlet fitting 16a that has a suitable fitting 16 for connecting a hose or other water supply pipe thereto. Any suitable type of water motor may be utilized and forms no part of the present invention. Through suitable gearing generally designated the impeller drives an output shaft 17 which projects from the housing through a suitable water-tight journal and has a crank 18 mounted thereon. The crank has a pivotal connection 19 with a connecting link 20 which in turn has a pivotal connection 21 with a pivot arm 22 which is normally freely rotatable or oscillatable on and relatively to the sprinkler supply pipe.

In accordance with the invention, means is provided for selectively connecting the pivot arm 22 to the sprinkler supply pipe to oscillate the latter or to hold the pipe against oscillation and stationary in a selected position, as hereinafter described.

Water outlets for the sprinkler pipe are provided by the sprinkler head D which is shown as including a body 23 which is mounted to rotate about an axis that is perpendicular to the axis of oscillation of the sprinkler supply pipe section 1 and having hollow sprinkler arms 25 and 26 projecting approximately radially therefrom. As shown, with particular reference to FIGURE 9, the body has a tubular shank 27 which is journalled in a nut 28 screwed into a threaded counter bore 29 in the end of the section 2 of the sprinkler supply pipe. Suitable watertight packing is provided, for example a washer 30 that abuts the inner end of the nut and is abutted by a ring 31 secured on the shank 27.

The sprinkler arms 25 and 26 are shown as cylindrical and hollow and rotatably mounted about their own axes in the body 23. FIGURES 1 and 5 show one manner of mounting the sprinkler arms in the body while a modification of the construction is shown in FIGURE 9. In FIGURE 5 the arms are provided with water outlet orifices or apertures 32 extending in spaced relation in a line or row longitudinally of the arms, and one end of each arm has a circumferential projection or collar 33 secured thereon which may be in the form of a solid flange or a split spring ring. The body 23 has a passage 34 therethrough each end of which is counter-bored as indicated at 35 to provide a shoulder 35a against which the corresponding tube end, flange or collar 33 abuts. A yieldable ring 36 which may be a rubber O-ring is fitted on each arm in abutting relation to the side of the collar 33 opposite the shoulder 35a and the ring 36 is pressed against the collar by a nut 37 which encircles the sprinkler arm and is screw threaded into the counter-bore 35. With this construction a water tight connection of the sprinkler arm with the body 23 is provided and by tightening of the nut 37 against the ring 36, frictional resistance to rotation of the sprinkler arm is provided. This construction permits the sprinkler arms selectively to be located with their apertures 32 directed in directions parallel to the plane in which lies the axis of rotation of the body 23 as shown by solid lines in FIGURES 1 and 5 or in directions at angles to said plane with the apertures in the two arms preferably facing in opposite directions as shown by dot and dash lines. With the apertures in the first-mentioned position, there is no tendency for the head to rotate, while when the apertures are in the second-mentioned position, the reaction incident to the force of the water jets from the apertures causes the head to rotate. In all positions the apertures 32 form the outlets for the sprinkler, whether the head is rotating or not rotating.

It will also be observed that by rotating the arms different distances or into different positions the speed of the rotation of the head may be varied. Also, the rotation of the arms permits water spray to be projected in any of a plurality of directions between the vertical and the horizontal.

It will be understood that if desired means such as shown in my Patents No. 3,168,249 or 3,269,661 may be used to positively hold the sprinkler head against rotation instead of or in addition to the utilization of the direction of the water jets as hereinabove described.

In the modified construction of the sprinkler head, the

body 23a has a passage 34a therethrough the opposite ends of which are screw threaded and have screwed thereinto the sprinkler arms 25a and 26a one end of each of which is screw threaded as indicated at 38. Each end of the passage 34a has a tapered surface 39 against which abuts a yieldable ring 40 which may be a rubber packing ring. For selectively permitting rotation of the arms 25a and 26a about their axis and for holding them against rotation, a nut 41 is screwed onto the threads 38 of the arm and abuts the ring 40, preferably with a slip washer 42 between the nut and the ring 40. With this construction, upon loosening of the nut, the arm may be freely rotated in the head 23a and upon tightening of the nut, frictional resistance will be created between the arm, the nut, the ring 40 and the surface 39 of the body 23a serving to hold the arm against rotation in its adjusted position.

As hereinabove explained means is provided for selectively permitting oscillation of the sprinkler supply pipe 1, 2 or holding it stationary in an adjusted position. For this purpose, in FIGURES 1 through 4 the pivot arm 22 is oscillatable on the pipe section 1 through the link connection 20 to the crank 18 of the water motor. A collar 44 is rigidly connected to the pipe section 1 outside the housing, for example by a pin 45, and a clamp plate 46 is pivotally mounted on a stud 47 which is screwed into and projects radially from the collar and has a nut 48 screw threaded thereon to abut the side of the clamp plate opposite the collar. By rotating the clamp plate into contact with the pivot arm 22 and tightening the nut as shown by solid lines in FIGURES 1 and 2, the pivot arm is rigidly connected to the sprinkler supply pipe so that the latter is oscillated upon rotation of the motor. When the clamp plate is swung in the opposite direction and clamped in contact with the housing as shown by broken lines in FIGURE 3, the sprinkler supply pipe is held stationary although the pivot arm 22 may continue to oscillate. Thus, it is possible to adjust the sprinkler supply pipe and hold the section 2 thereof in any of a plurality of positions radially disposed with respect to the axis of oscillation of the section 1, whereby the water sprays can be directed vertically, horizontally or in other directions between the vertical and the horizontal, with the sprinkler head either rotating or held against rotation so that the dimensions of the area to be sprayed may be varied and the water may be projected conveniently toward a small area or beneath a hedge or shrub.

A modification of the invention is shown in FIGURES 6, 7 and 8 where the collar 44a is keyed at 50 to the section 1 of the sprinkler supply pipe so as to slide longitudinally thereof, and may be held in an adjusted position by a set screw 51. The collar is interposed between a portion 52 of the pivot arm 22a which may be serrated and a portion 53 of the housing which may also have serrations or grooves therein; and the opposite faces of the collar are preferably serrated or grooved correspondingly to the respective portions 52 and 53. Thus by loosening the screw 51 and pushing the collar 44a into con-tact with the pivot arm 2211 the sprinkler supply pipe may be caused to oscillate, while when the collar is pressed into contact with the portions 53 of the housing, the sprinkler supply pipe is held stationary in the desired position, the set screw 51 being utilized for holding the collar in either position.

It will be understood that I have described several embodiments of my invention for the purpose of illustrating the principle thereof and that many modifications and changes may be made in the construction of the sprinkler within the spirit and scope of the invention.

I claim:

1. In a lawn sprinkler, the combination of:

(a) a supporting frame,

(b) a water motor including a housing on said frame having an inlet and an outlet and provided with a driving crank outside said housing,

(c) a sprinkler supply pipe journalled in said housing to oscillate about a horizontal axis and communicating with said outlet to receive water therefrom,

(d) a driving connection between said crank and said sprinkler supply pipe to oscillate the latter,

(e) said driving connection including an arm rotatable loosely on and carried by the sprinkler supply pipe and having a pivotal connection to said crank,

(f) and connector means including a part carried by said supply pipe for oscillation therewith and movable thereon selectively into a fixed driving connection between said arm and the sprinkler supply pipe to oscillate the pipe or into a fixed holding connection between an element of the motor housing and the sprinkler supply pipe to anchor the latter against oscillation.

2. In the structural combination recited in claim 1, said connector means part carried by the supply pipe comprising a clamp plate pivotally mounted on the supply pipe for movement selectively into a position in engagement against said arm of the driving connection or into another position in engagement against said element of the motor housing, and means on and in fixed connection with the supply pipe for oscillation therewith and operative to clamp said plate against said driving connection arm and thereby establish the fixed driving connection between said arm and the supply pipe to oscillate the pipe while the motor is in operation or to clamp said plate against the motor housing and thereby anchor the supply pipe against oscillation While the motor is in operation.

3. In the structural combination recited in claim 1, the connector means part carried by said supply pipe having a two-way clutch with actuator and disposed on the pipe between the arm of said driving connection and said element of the motor housing.

4. In the structural combination recited in claim 1, the housing having at least one groove in a face thereof, said driving connection arm also having at least one groove in a face thereof, and said connector means part carried by the supply pipe being a tooth selectively seatable either in the housing groove or the driving connection arm groove, said tooth when seated in the.connection arm groove interlocking the driving connection and the supply pipe for oscillation of the latter and when seated in the housing face groove interlocking the housing and the supply pipe to anchor the latter against oscillation.

5. The structure of claim 3, and means on the clutch for holding it against disengagement from either fixed connection position.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 462,902 11/ 1891 Jones 23925 8 988,423 4/ 1911 Wittekopf 23925 8 1,866,844 7/1932 De Vos 239258 2,181,227 11/1939 Davis 239255 2,335,281 11/1943 Jepson 239-258 3,168,249 2/1965 Thompson 239-242 3,270,963 9/1966 Jepson 239-242 3,275,242 9/ 1966 Thompson 239242 FOREIGN PATENTS 897,531 5/1944 France.

EVERETT W. K-IR-BY, Primary Examiner. 

1. IN A LAWN SPRINKLER, THE COMBINATION OF: (A) A SUPPORTING FRAME, (B) A WATER MOTOR INCLUDING A HOUSING ON SAID FRAME HAVING AN INLET AND AN OUTLET AND PROVIDED WITH A DRIVING CRANK OUTSIDE SAID HOUSING, (C) A SPRINKLER SUPPLY PIPE JOURNALLED IN SAID HOUSING TO OSCILLATE ABOUT A HORIZONTAL AXIS AND COMMUNICATING WITH SAID OUTLET TO RECEIVE WATER THEREFROM, (D) A DRIVING CONNECTION BETWEEN SAID CRANK AND SAID SPRINKLER SUPPLY PIPE TO OSCILLATE THE LATTER, (E) SAID DRIVING CONNECTION INCLUDING AN ARM ROTATABLE LOOSELY ON AND CARRIED BY THE SPRINKLER SUPPLY PIPE AND HAVING A PIVOTAL CONNECTION TO SAID CRANK, (F) AND CONNECTOR MEANS INCLUDING A PART CARRIED BY SAID SUPPLY PIPE FOR OSCILLATION THEREWITH AND MOVABLE THEREON SELECTIVELY INTO A FIXED DRIVING CONNECTION BETWEEN SAID ARM AND THE SPRINKLER SUPPLY PIPE TO OSCILLATE THE PIPE OR INTO A FIXED HOLDING CONNECTION BETWEEN AN ELEMENT OF THE MOTOR HOUSING AND THE SPRINKLER SUPPLY PIPE TO ANCHOR THE LATTER AGAINST OSCILLATION. 